Aspiring lawyers compete in mock trials
NORRISTOWN >> Taking part in an annual summer intern program sponsored by Montgomery County’s top law enforcement officer helped some aspiring lawyers cut their teeth in the legal arena.
Students from Temple University Beasley School of Law recently won a mock trial competition sponsored by Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele. Bradley Deckel and Anne O’Connell were the winners of the Montgomery County District Attorney’s 21st Annual Summer Intern Mock Trial Competition for second-year law students.
Taking second place in the competition were Stephen Long from Rutgers Law School and Samantha Ollmann from Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law.
Traditionally, during the annual mock trial competition sponsored by Steele, law students who spend their summers working in the district attorney’s office meet in a courtroom to prosecute a hypothetical criminal case. The young lawyers then are critiqued by prosecutors who have worked in the trenches for many years.
This year, the interns prosecuted a fictitious murder case that involved legal hurdles and factual challenges to create difficulty. Other summer interns took on roles as witnesses and detectives, while the jury for the final round of the competition on Aug. 3 consisted of Steele, deputy district attorneys and assistant district attorneys. First Assistant District Attorney Edward F. McCann, Jr. presided as judge during the competition’s final round.
Organizers maintain the program is a vehicle for young lawyers in training to showcase their legal talents.
The competitors were certified legal summer interns—all second-year law students—who were approved and certified by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. That certification allowed them to practice law in district courts and the Court of Common Pleas during the summer under the supervision of prosecutors in the district attorney’s office.
This year, COVID-19 protocols required that all interns be fully vaccinated to work in person in the office and in court.
Throughout the summer, the second-year law students handled probation violation hearings, guilty plea hearings, summary appeal hearings and other legal proceedings.
The 10 second-year law students were part of the summer intern class of 28 that included first-year and second-year law students as well as two undergraduates.
The participants came from the University of Delaware, Drexel University, Holy Family University, Lehigh University, Rutgers, University of South Carolina, Temple University, Villanova University and Widener University, officials said.